Claws (7 page)

“It’s a long story and adult business,”
she replied evenly and set him down on the carpet. She turned and
picked up Elaina. “It will be resolved. Don’t worry. Just do as I
ask and don’t tell him I’ve come to you.”

Vivvie spent as much time with her
children as she dared. With a heavy heart, she put them both back
into their cribs. Elaina started to cry, making her feel miserable
to leave them.

Devon gazed at her with such an adoring
expression. She was reminded of how his Father once looked at her.
Pain filled her to leave them. This dreamscape was all they could
have for now.

“Mother, I can talk to Father for you,”
Devon assured her, sounding so convinced of his pull with his sire,
she smiled. “I can make him take you back.”

“No, I’m afraid he won’t listen to
reason right now. He thinks I did a bad thing.”

Devon glared through the crib slats
with glowing blue eyes now. “Is that why the mean lady is here with
him now?”

“What mean lady?” she asked in alarm,
heart plummeting at his words.

“She’s the female elder,” her son
explained. “She lives here with us now.”

Vivvie felt the blood drain from her
face. “What do you mean; she lives here?”

“She moved in as soon as Father sent
you away.”

Vivvie carefully hid the fury rising in
her to know Eli wasted no time in moving in another female. Her
anger simmered as she kissed both her children and left the
nursery. She stared at the door to their bedroom, ignoring the
voice that said she didn’t want to know. She had to
know.

She opened the door only a crack and
stared within, her night vision seeing them in bed together. The
smell of sex in the air made her stiffen with outrage; knowing he
turned to another. Tears filled her eyes to see the dark-haired
woman snuggled against Eli as they slept. She sniffed at the scent
and her eyes grew wide.

The scent was the same one she smelled
before she was pushed over the ledge. The female in bed with her
husband was the one who pushed her over the cliff. A low growl
escaped her. She withdrew from the door before she alerted them
both to her presence. The desire to shift and rip the she-cat to
pieces for what she’d done was too overwhelming to
linger.

The pain of knowing he put her from his
life was nothing compared to her fury to know who was responsible.
She left the suite heartsick and furious and wandered the compound,
knowing she couldn’t leave yet.

She went to seek out Jericho with a
heavy heart.

He snored loudly. She chuckled as she
stood over him. His handsome features looked so much like Ripken’s
it was uncanny. She had to remind herself he was her maker’s
grandfather at times, nothing like him at all. He had become her
dearest friend and ally now.

She spied the water bong at his bedside
and shook her head. Catnip was twice as potent as marijuana and was
favored among the youngest of their kind. She suspected the elder
indulged more than he should. Jericho was four hundred years old
and would never grow up.

The oldest of them all; Jericho looked
like a California surfer. His long hippie-like golden hair and
short goatee made one wonder at his intelligence. One had only to
listen to him talk to know he was brilliant. He was a teacher, a
doctor, and by all accounts the wiliest of all the Alphas. If
anyone could help her it was he.

She laid a hand upon him and he jumped;
eyes glowing and wide as he saw her standing over his
bed.

“Geez, Vivvie. Can’t a guy enjoy a wet
dream? What are you doing here?” he grumbled as he sat up in bed
and regarded her with his glowing yellow green eyes.

“I need you, Jericho,” she told him as
she sat at the edge of his bed.

Jericho sat up against the pillows. His
eyes traced her figure in the knit sleep set. His eyes grew heated
at once, reminding her he was an Alpha. He no doubt wondered why
she invaded his dreams and thought the obvious.

“I’m flattered, Vivvie. If this is a
rebound thing; I’m up for it.”

“Oh shut up! I’m not here for a rebound
thing,” she muttered and he grinned. “The woman who pushed me
sleeps with my husband. Who is she?”

Jericho’s smile faded in an instant.
“You’re sure it was she who pushed you?”

“I smelled her at the rock ledge. I
smelled her tonight when I watched her lying in my husband’s bed!
Who is she?” Vivvie demanded, her eyes narrowing to
slits.

“The elder, Tania; she’s Ty’s sister,”
Jericho told her, and got out of bed. Vivvie had to chuckle at the
sight of his Superman sleep pants. The sight of his muscular naked
chest did strange things to her; however, and she hastily averted
her gaze.

“She’s the one who pushed me that
night,” Vivvie told him in outrage. “I’d know that funky smell
anywhere.”

“I’m not surprised it was her,” Jericho
acknowledged with a tight expression.

Vivvie stared at him in dismay. “Why
would she push me? I’ve never even met her. The last I heard; she
was in a coma.”

“She woke up while you were in
Australia. She wants Eli back,” Jericho informed her and shook his
head. “I should have known something like this would
happen.”

“I like how she goes about it,” Vivvie
grumbled, sore to think she aided the woman’s efforts with her own
stupid actions. “So much for woman to woman; just push somebody off
a cliff.”

Jericho smiled sadly. “Tania isn’t your
problem right now. Eli won’t see reason. He’s hurting right now.
I’m sorry Vivvie.”

“I’m sorry too,” she replied and fought
the urge to cry. “I refuse to be denied my children, Jericho. He
can have her, as far as I’m concerned. I need your
help.”

“Tania isn’t going to admit she pushed
you, Vivvie,” Jericho told her sadly. “It’s your word against hers.
An elder’s word goes much farther than a Newbreed’s. I don’t know
what you think I can do. Eli won’t listen to me. He moved her in a
day after you left.”

Vivvie looked like she’d been punched
to hear this. “I’m going to Florida to meet with Ty. I have to
figure out some way of getting through to Eli. He has to believe
me.”

“He started divorce proceedings,
Vivvie. He hired an attorney,” he told her sadly, looking like he
wanted to bite his own tongue to see her misery. She had to know
how far things had been taken after her flight from the
compound.

“He will listen to me, Jericho,” she
assured him and grinned suddenly. “I heard you had seven more born
recently from Ty. All girls; I heard.”

Jericho grinned proudly. “I blew the
balls off.”

“Eli said he’d neuter you if you keep
it up,” she teased. “I’m surprised I didn’t find one of our four
Newbreeds here with you tonight.”

Jericho rolled his eyes. “Fickle she
cats; every one of them. They moved on to others. You know the
drill.”

“Try to sound a bit less relieved,” she
commented with a smile. “When are you going to ever settle down
Jericho?”

“When humans of the same sex are
allowed to marry in the human fashion,” he proclaimed with a
self-righteous expression and they both burst out
laughing.

She sobered to recall he went as far as
seeking divorce now. Louisa Ruiz wasn’t even her real name. Her
leaving only encouraged Eli’s belief she refused their ways and all
was for the best.

Vivvie swallowed hard to know he went
that far to put her out of his life. It was laughable considering
their marriage was hardly legal. They married under false names.
The identities they assumed were with the papers Derek procured
from Mexican immigrants. Derek, Eli’s oldest son, assured her they
would never be questioned for authenticity.

It hurt so badly to know he meant to
divorce her, worse than his renouncing her as his mate. It was a
slap in the face considering how he had doted on her by giving her
a human wedding. Recalling their reception in Cat’s Corner brought
tears to her eyes. He had lavished the wedding on her, wanting her
to feel like any other bride.

“
I can’t help that now. I
just want to be able to see my children. Eli can believe what he
wants. I didn’t abort our children. I don’t care what anyone
thinks. I know what happened and that’s all that
matters.”

“
Ty is helping you now.
That’s good for you. Go there and wait this out,” Jericho told her
as he reached at his bedside for his water bong. He lit the bong
and took a long pull off it and handed it to her.

She didn’t hesitate as upset as she
was. With help from him she took enough pulls off it to make her
cough uncontrollably. The euphoria made her calm down about her
situation, also made her aware she was alone in Jericho’s bedroom
with a feeling of unease.

“He wired me money to get back to
Florida,” she explained, feeling calmer but completely stoned.
“Where did you expect me to go when I was shown to the bottom of
the mountain, Jericho? I’m homeless if you haven’t noticed. I can’t
go back to Sebastian and I can’t stay here. Where does that leave
me exactly?”

Jericho nodded and took another hit on
the bong before setting it away. He came forward, eyes filled with
sadness. “Then it’s best you go to Ty. He is Chief there now. He
can help you more than I can. I warn you; if Eli finds out, this
won’t go over well.”

“He doesn’t have anything to say about
it. He’s not my husband anymore,” Vivvie cried and started to sob
brokenly. Jericho hugged her then, his hand stroking her hair as
she cried against his hard chest.

Vivvie needed the hug, the comfort, and
the warmth. After days of nothing but condemnation, she soaked up
Jericho’s closeness. She was startled to feel his hands moving over
her back with more than a little suggestion of how her nearness
affected him. She looked up and saw his yellow green eyes blazing
down at her, dilated by the catnip they smoked and heady with
desire.

Before she could say anything, he
kissed her. She was too stunned and stoned as those expert lips
moved upon hers, working hers open to explore her mouth. His hands
slid under her knit cami to cup and fondle her breasts.

The surge of pleasure within her was
undeniable, intensified by the catnip. Her hurt and disillusionment
made her throw aside caution. He eased her back to the pillows,
kissing her urgently, making her grow increasingly aware of where
this was going.

Jericho wasted no time easing down her
sleep pants and engaged in such a hot descent over her body with
his lips and hands, she was dazed as she looked up at
him.

“We can’t do this!” she cried as she
tore her mouth free, seeing his eyes above her.

“We can do whatever we want here,
Vivvie. It’s your dream,” he told her before he kissed her hungrily
again; cutting off whatever protest she might have offered. Soon
she no longer cared.

Jericho’s hands and lips made her
forget her hurt and her disillusionment. She was startled when the
Superman sleep pants disappeared and he moved over her, his long,
lean muscular body fitted between her thighs.

He thrust deep, gasping and closing his
eyes in carnal pleasure. Vivvie moaned and bit into his shoulder to
keep from screaming, her body moving with his in a slow, hungry
pattern. The euphoria made it even more intense, the colors before
her eyes changing and blending together.

Jericho made love to her, removing
little doubt about his reputation within the tribe as a lover was
well-founded. By the time he lay still within her, she stared up at
him sorrowfully. She had few regrets given what she knew of her
husband’s actions. A part of her was always curious about Jericho.
Eli abandoned her now. She felt no guilt to know she enjoyed
this.

“I know you still love Eli, Vivvie,” he
told her as he kissed her lips softly. “You needed someone tonight.
I’m glad I was here for you. Don’t feel guilty.”

Vivvie stared at the ceiling of his
room, knowing a pang of remorse she was no better than Eli, turning
to the first person who offered comfort.

“I don’t know how I feel
anymore.”

Jericho laughed naughtily and his hand
slid down, finding her hot and wet with knowing flicks of his
fingers, making her gasp. He stared down at her
intently.

“Then let me show you, Vivvie. Let me
show you what we are,” he said as he pulled her knees up around his
hips, staring into her eyes with a gentle expression.

She gasped as Jericho drove into her
with a slow grinding pressure, his teeth scoring her neck and
breasts, reminding her she was flesh and blood as the desire grew
unbearable. She dug her fingers into his back, urging him on with
soft plaintive sobs.

He growled at her throat, his body
pounding relentlessly into hers until she was nearly screaming. She
couldn’t deny the way he made her feel, her hands winding into his
long golden hair, her mouth hungry as it met his. The feel and
taste of him was intoxicating and made her crazed wanting
more.

They were dazed and sweaty much later
as they lay still among the twisted bedding, his teeth nibbling at
her shoulder. His body still jerked inside her from his orgasm.
Vivvie should have felt regret but there was none. This was what
she needed and Jericho would never press for more. This was all he
wanted, she was sure.